T-bird/Duron unlocking and overclocking

Like Intel's chips, AMD chips are multiplier locked when you buy them. Although unlike Intel's chips, AMD's can be unlocked. And all it takes is a pencil.

Their are tiny "bridges" that you must pencil over on the L1 bridge to "unlock" the multiplier. A pencil will do pretty good job but a Conductive pen will do much better. You can buy a Conductive pen at any local eletronics part store.

Connecting the bridges

Alright, Lets connect the L1 Bridges shall we? You need a very sharp pencil to do this with. I don't recommend using a #2 pencil because the tips are so large. I would though recommend using a mechanical pencil that has really fine tip. Or you can always use the Conductive pen as I said earlier which is your best choice. If you using the Conductive pen use a needle to apply the ink with because the Conductive pen tip is quite large and you may cross-over bridges. Now connect the 4 bridges and DON'T let them touch thier neighbours. When you are done yours should look similar to the one below.

Make sure you fill them in well but without crossing their neighbours :) That is the number one thing ppl do wrong. You only get one chance too! If you cross them you got a screwed up CPU. It's best to use a magnify glass so you can see close up to what you are doing. You can watch a video of this being done. Just click here. It's a really good detailed video. Hope it helps!

Booting up and Testing

Okay once you have install your heatsink and fan back on your cpu and have install it in the motherboard boot up your system. If you system does not boot up.. I'd say you have a problem.. :) Check your bridges and make sure you have penciled them well. Once it turns on.. Go into your bios and up the multiplier to whatever you want.. Start low and work your way up from there. Once you have booted up to your operating system, it's a good idea to test the cpu to make sure it's stable. I use a program called Prime95 and you can download it here

Conclusion

T-Bird/Duron overclocking is the future of tomorrow. With overclocking you can get a faster cpu for little or no money. I'd recommend a 700mhz Duron for a low end overclockers user or a 900mhz T-bird for a highend overclocker user. Happy Overclocking!

WARNING!!

I HOLD NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DAMAGE RESULTING FROM OVERCLOCKING AND OTHER THINGS YOU READ IN THIS ARTICLE.